Social justice

[chaoticidealism]

I’ve started avoiding social justice type discussions lately. I don’t know how to say all the right things and how to avoid all the wrong implications. I take things literally, like I might say that “all lives matter” is a true statement, because they do matter; and then people think I’m a racist and don't care that black people get killed for no

Comments

[old_cutter_john]

You good! Really!

Yeah, stay away from those social justice types! They're bad for you!

[chaoticidealism]

It sounds like a simple solution, but here's the trouble: "Those social justice types" really do seem to want the same things I want. When someone dies because they're being black in public, they're the ones you can count on not to say "Obviously just a thug" and ignore the fact that a human life has ended. Whenever someone is victimized because of their minority status, they're the ones who get outraged

[old_cutter_john]

"'Those social justice types' really do seem to want the same things I want."

Bait.

"Can't we talk about words later, and figure out how to help now?"

Sounds good to me, but so many of those social justice types don't want to help at all. They want to beat you up over the words. You're a much easier victim than the goons they'd have to deal with in order to do any real good.

As to the dispute you alluded to, I prefer the slogan, "Black lives matter." I'm not into slogans myself, but they do catalyze progress, and "Black lives matter" has more of a chance of catalyzing progress than "All lives matter." I want progress, because the police are a danger to me. Sure, the cop patrolling my neighborhood would rather rough up a twenty-three-year-old black guy than me, but at four in the morning, I'm the only target available. If progress is made in the name of "Black lives matter," all civilians will be safer, not just blacks. And I don't see progress being made in the name of "All lives matter

[chaoticidealism]

Heh, yeah, I prefer "Black lives matter", too. I was watching the whole Ferguson thing, and then later on the shootings in Charleston... Prejudice is still a huge problem for black people, and when one person has a lot of power over another (police versus citizen, for example), prejudiced people can get away with... well, murder. Literally

[anonymous]

Self pity at it's finest.

[chaoticidealism]

Anonymous trolling at its least creative.

[plasticsturgeon]

It's true that activist culture is hyper-focused on micromanaging personal expression, but in general the idea is that it's okay to make mistakes as long as you react well to being corrected by people with less privilege. Privilege insulates a person from knowledge about what people without (that type of) privilege have to go through. Therefore, the "sin" is not in making the mistake, it's in reacting defensively (or offensively) when "called out."

Of course the problem is that everyone's so raw and jumpy that basically anything you say in response can be taken as an attack if it isn't worded in precisely the right way, a way that shows that you belong to the in-group and know the passwords.